The closed upper low ambling down the coastline sits off the southern tip of the Alaska Panhandle early Saturday morning. The has brought cloud cover to much of the Pacific Northwest. WSW winds ahead of the low continue to transport milder air into the region into the day on Saturday. Temperatures Friday night remained in the 30s at many NWAC locations. Radar coverage at present depicts scattered shower activity brushing the NW tip of the Olympic Peninsula. The bands of rain and snow showers should edge southward, impacting Hurricane Ridge and Mt. Baker by Saturday afternoon. Expect an inch or less of snow at elevations above 5000 ft.
The rain and snow become moderate Saturday night in the Mt. Baker and Mountain loop areas. Other portions of the Washington Cascades should experience some light rain and snow after midnight. Ridgeline winds increase/peak in the moderate range as temperatures cool across the region.
Very light snow showers generally decrease across the region on Sunday with the upper low drifting over the region. However, a switch from W to NE winds could result in some local upslope precipitation in portions of the NE Olympic mountains. With cooler temperatures in place, this arrives primarily as snow.
We expect up to 6" of snow from this weak storm with the most near Mt. Baker.
Weather Forecast
Olympics
West North
West Central
West South
Stevens Pass
Snoqualmie Pass
East North
East Central
East South
Mt. Hood
Use dropdown to select your zone
Saturday
Cloudy in the morning with light rain and snow showers developing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Light rain and snow showers.
Saturday
Cloudy in the morning with light rain and snow showers developing in the afternoon.
Saturday
Night
Moderate rain and snow decreasing by morning.
Saturday
Thickening clouds.
Saturday
Night
Light to moderate rain and snow.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with filtered sunshine possible at times.
Saturday
Night
Light rain and developing, most likely after midnight.
Saturday
Thickening clouds.
Saturday
Night
Light rain and snow more likely to develop from late evening onward.
Saturday
Thickening clouds.
Saturday
Night
Light rain and snow more likely to develop from late evening onward.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with clouds thickening.
Saturday
Night
Light rain and snow showers.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with clouds thickening.
Saturday
Night
Light rain and snow showers more likely to develop from late evening onward.
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with filtered sunshine at times.
Saturday
Night
Mostly cloudy in the evening with a chance of light rain and snow showers in the early morning hours.
The NWAC program is administered by the USDA-Forest Service and operates from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Seattle. NWAC services are made possible by important collaboration and support from a wide variety of federal, state and private cooperators.
The 5000’ temperature forecast does not imply a trend over the 12 hr period and only represents the max and min temperatures within a 12 hr period in the zone. The 6-hr snow level forecast, the forecast discussion, and weather forecast sections may add detail regarding temperature trends.
The snow level forecast represents the general snow level over a 6 hr time period. Freezing levels are forecast when precipitation is not expected.
*Easterly or offshore flow is highlighted with an asterisk when we expect relatively cool east winds in the major Cascade Passes. Easterly flow will often lead to temperature inversions and is a key variable for forecasting precipitation type in the Cascade Passes. Strong easterly flow events can affect terrain on a more regional scale.
Ridgeline winds are the average wind speed and direction over a 6 hr time period.
The wind forecast represents an elevation range instead of a single elevation slice. The elevation range overlaps with the near and above treeline elevation bands in the avalanche forecast and differs per zone.
Wind direction indicates the direction the wind originates or comes from on the 16-point compass rose.
Water Equivalent (WE) is the liquid water equivalent of all precipitation types; rain, snow, ice pellets, etc., forecast to the hundredth of an inch at specific locations. To use WE as a proxy for snowfall amounts, start with a snow to water ratio of 10:1 (10 inches of snow = 1 inch WE). Temperatures at or near freezing will generally have a lower ratio (heavy wet snow) and very cold temperatures can have a much higher ratio (dry fluffy snow).